Foz do Amazonas: Ibama defends technical decision – 05/23/2023 – Environment

The president of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho, ruled out this Tuesday (23rd) a political agreement on the issue of oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon, an issue that has been dividing the government, putting the environmental wing on one side and the so-called development wing and parliamentarians from the northern region.

Agostinho will participate this Tuesday afternoon in a meeting at the Civil House, which should include the participation of the president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates; and the Ministers of Mines and Energy and the Environment, Alexandre Silveira and Marina Silva, respectively.

“I issue 3,000 licenses a year, I cannot stay in each license calling all parties, looking for a composition, because there is no composition [política] in decisions that are technical. Many times we will make decisions that will please a group of people, displease another group of people”, said the president of the body.

On Wednesday (17th), Agostinho accompanied the agency’s technical opinion and denied a request made by Petrobras to drill the basin at the mouth of the Amazon River with the aim of exploring for oil in the region.

The decision was taken after Ibama showed concern about the oil company’s activities in a region of socio-environmental vulnerability.

The institute claims that the plans presented by the company are insufficient to guarantee the safety of the venture and that an AAAS (Environmental Assessment of Sedimentary Area) was not delivered, a study that analyzes whether the region, and not just the specific drilling block, is suitable or not to be exploited, considering the characteristics of the environment.

Ibama also says that the request was incomplete in points such as a fauna protection plan and a social communication plan for indigenous communities. According to a technical note from the institute, there was “the finding of environmental impacts not foreseen in the EIA [estudo de impacto ambiental] and without mitigating measures prepared in a reasoned manner and subject to verification of effectiveness”.

The decision provoked a great division in the political world, including within the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). Politicians in the region, such as the leader of the government in Congress, Randolfe Rodrigues (non-AP party), criticized Ibama’s decision, as well as minister Alexandre Silveira and the president of Petrobras.

On the other hand, Marina Silva defended the environmental agency’s decision. In a lecture at the CNBB (National Confederation of Bishops of Brazil) this Monday, Marina did not mention the impasse, but said that “the gift” given by God cannot be destroyed.

“Too much of a contradiction to say that you love the Creator and disrespect creation, to say that you love the Creator and destroy creation, to say that you love the Creator and are more concerned about making money from creation than taking care of this garden, which He has put us to cultivate and keep it. You can cultivate it, use it, but keep it, protect it,” he said.

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}